18 women among 19 dead in accident in Chhattisgarh
Kawardha, May 20: As many as 19 tribals including 18 women were killed and three others injured when a mini goods vehicle ferrying a group of tendu leaves collectors plunged into a valley in Chhattisgarh’s Kabirdham district on Monday afternoon, police said. As per preliminary information, a brake failure led to the tragedy, officials said. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai announced a financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured. The accident occurred around 1.45 pm on Banjari Ghat near Bahpani village under Kukdur police station limits, Kabirdham Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava said. The victims were returning home after plucking tendu leaves from a forest, he said. When the vehicle, with 36 people onboard, was descending down Banjari Ghat (mountainous road), the driver shouted that brakes had failed, following which he and most of the male passengers jumped off, the official said. (PTI)
Raisi’s death: India declares one-day state mourning today
New Delhi, May 20: India on Monday declared one day of state mourning on May 21 as a mark of respect to Iranian President Seyyed Ebrahim Raisi and the country’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, who died in a helicopter crash on Sunday. “On the day of mourning (Tuesday), the National Flag will be flown at half-mast on all buildings where the National Flag is flown regularly and there will be no official entertainment on the day,” read a statement issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs. Raisi and Abdollahian were among nine people who died after their helicopter crashed in Iran’s mountainous north-west region while they were returning from the Azerbaijan border after flagging off joint projects in the region. (IANS)
Slow pace, long queues test voters’ patience
Mumbai, May 20: Mumbai residents faced delays, slow-paced voting process and long queues as the city went to polls on Monday amid sultry weather conditions, with Shiv Sena (UBT) and Congress raising concerns. While at some places people who had turned up at polling booths early in the morning left without casting their vote after waiting in the line for a long time, Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray alleged that the process was slowed down deliberately. Polling was underway for 13 Lok Sabha constituencies including six in Mumbai city in the final phase of the general elections in Maharashtra. (PTI)